i was on the mini pill after dd1 was born.at 21 months i got a 3 day brown thing that looked like a period, then got pregnant the following week. this time i waited until dd2 was 21 mo and then started the lowest estrogen dose pill. after 1.5 weeks i started af. i had 3 days of brown then 7 days of bright red crampy but not heavy, and then 2 days of brown and now i am done. i kept taking the pill the whole time. so if i still got af when it was expected (bc of history) even though i was on estrogen, does that mean it will still keep me from o'ing?

Me,DH,DS1'95, '98,DSD'03,DD1'07,DD2'09,DS2'12 Living with Fructose Malabsorption Syndrome and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type 3-Hypermobility.)o( and sometimes I get toif I am lucky.

On a typical bcp you should get predictable periods, but that does not affect whether you are ovulating or not. The addition of synthetic hormones to your system will force it into a regular cycle, but a lot of hormonal birth control methods do not stop you from ovulating. Instead they make the environment inhospitable to sperm and implantation. Some women will stop ovulating, but many will not regardless of the ratios of estrogen to progesterone. This is true for pills and for the hormonal IUD. Many people also do not realize the efficacy of these methods of birth control and that they are very dependent on exact, correct usage. I was always under the impression that all bcp were about 99% effective for all women. But they really aren't- there is actually quite a range of effectiveness, especially if you are younger (and therefore more fertile), take it at varying times of day and/or occasionally skip one or two. The mini pill in particular has a wider range of effectiveness than pills that include both hormones.

How do you feel about alternative forms of birth control like charting and barrier methods?

The only one I know of that stops ovulation nearly all the time is Implanon. It makes it even more effective than sterilization. According to their effectiveness trial, none of the women ovulated in the first 2 years and only a few in the 3rd year (who if I remember right, didn't get pregnant). There were 584 pregnancies in 1.3 million women in 'actual use' with the vast majority of them resulting from an improperly placed implant. Its also progesterone only. Its supposed to be safe for breastfeeding too.

This Mommy and Military Daddy are loving their son.
DS born Dec 2010 Pregnant with #2, having another !

How do you feel about alternative forms of birth control like charting and barrier methods?

i feel ....

like i decided to do that instead. lol. the pill gave me bad headaches and made me angry all the time. bleh. i started charting again and am using a barrier. i wear a pessary and it works for me like a permanent diaphragm. plus, my temps are still wonky so i doubt i would be o'ing anyway. and i still bf and my temps are all below 97 sometimes as low as 96.11. when we were trying for DD1 it took 11 months. 11 months i was wearing the pessary. took it out and was pregnant right away.

Me,DH,DS1'95, '98,DSD'03,DD1'07,DD2'09,DS2'12 Living with Fructose Malabsorption Syndrome and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type 3-Hypermobility.)o( and sometimes I get toif I am lucky.